When the owner of an off-road rig wants their truck or SUV to be more capable, they typically add bigger, more aggressive tires and suspension upgrades to create more ground clearance. Many off-roaders don’t think about the fact that adding bigger tires, heavier wheels and a suspension setup that increases rotational mass also increases the demand on the braking system in a big, heavy vehicle that is already hard on the brakes. While braking might not be the first concern for off-roaders, relying on factory braking components can be dangerous whether you are driving on-road or off. That is where Hawk Performance comes into play with more than 30 years of high performance braking experience.
About Hawk Performance
If you have experience in the world of road racing, you likely recognize the Hawk Performance name, as over the past three decades, it has become one of the leading names in track-bred braking components. The company set up headquarters in Medina, Ohio back in 1990 and has continued to operate there, serving as a quality leader in the world of high performance brake pads, rotors and fluids. Hawk Performance products are engineered to deliver optimal braking performance on the track, offering precision speed control through every corner, lap after lap. But the company doesn’t just focus on track use.
The people at Hawk Performance understand that many customers will use their vehicles for more than just road racing, so they have used their decades of racing experience to deliver braking components that perform just as well on the street or on dirt trails. In fact, aside from motorsport and street car use, the company has developed braking components for the aerospace, industrial and military segments as well. In engineering braking systems that provide world class stopping abilities for race cars, airplanes and military vehicles, Hawk has also developed braking components that will allow your truck or SUV to stop on a dime – whether you are on pavement or dirt.
Why Hawk Brake Components?
Your truck or sport utility vehicle came from the factory with braking components designed for normal, on-road driving with the factory suspension, wheels and tires. When you lift a vehicle by adding aftermarket suspension bits or a larger wheel-and-tire package, you you change how your vehicle responds when it comes time to stop. Aftermarket wheels and tires often weigh more than the factory rollers, so when coupled with other off-road upgrades, many trucks and SUVs built to play in the dirt are heavier than they were when they rolled off of the assembly line with significantly more rotational mass. As a result, the factory braking system may come up short, especially during long stints of hard braking. Excess heat and repeated braking exercises can substantially reduce braking abilities, leading to extended braking distances.
For example, imagine coming down out of the hills after a long, hot day of off-road fun. Your truck or SUV weighs a few hundred pounds more than it did when stock, leading to a more dramatic transfer of weight when braking. The extra work on your stock brake pads causes them to wear more quickly, but it also causes them to get far hotter than they would under stock conditions. That added heat causes brake fade, meaning that you have less brake force with the same basic pedal application. You can push the brake pedal harder, but that only applies more heat, leading to more severe brake fade. When you are creeping down a steep rock pile after a long day of off-roading, you don’t want to suddenly learn that your factory brakes won’t bring the rig to a stop in a reasonable distance.
Hawk’s brake pads for trucks and SUVs feature the brand’s LTS compound, designed to handle heavy duty braking performance under the hardest loads. Hawk friction technology has been put to the test on some of the world’s toughest trails, offering up to 40% more stopping power and reduced fade when compared to factory brake pads.
While Hawk Performance braking components have deep roots in road racing, they are fully street legal, bringing the on-track precision and peace of mind to drivers in any condition or on any surface. Decades of motorsport, aerospace and military experience will give your truck or SUV world class stopping abilities whether you are climbing trails in Moab or making the daily drive to work.